Go behind the yellow tape with The News Tribune

Police arrest several members of Tacoma gang in series of violent incidents

Posted By Stacey Mulick on February 9, 2010 at 10:15 am Bookmark and Share Share this

Tacoma police, federal agents and corrections officers served a series of early-morning search warrants today and arrested eight suspected members of a Tacoma street gang accused in a number of violent crimes dating back more than a year.

They continue to search for eight more suspects, Tacoma police reported.

In all, 32 members of the Hilltop Crips have been charged in Pierce County Superior Court with criminal conspiracy and other crimes. Some of them were already in custody; others have been arrested in the past week. Most have prior felony convictions.

Investigators have tied them to robberies, assaults, thefts, drug activity and driveby shootings since mid-2008, police reported. Most of the incidents occurred in the city.

The arrests were part of a joint investigation by the Tacoma Police Department, FBI's South Sound Gang Task Force and state Department of Corrections.

Read tomorrow's News Tribune for more details.

3 arrested after robbery attempt in Olympia

Posted By Stacey Mulick on February 9, 2010 at 5:57 am Bookmark and Share Share this

Olympia police have arrested three young men suspected of trying to rob another man in the parking lot of a grocery store.

The incident occurred about 11:36 p.m. Monday near the Safeway store at 3215 Harrison Ave. N.W.

During the robbery attempt, a man was approached by four young men. One came closer and wielded a knife, police reported.

"The man, who had observed these 4 coming toward him, had secretly dialed 911 on his phone while it was still in his pocket and when he so produced the phone and told the young men 911 was called, the 4 quickly walked away," a press release states.

Officers found the 16-year-old boy who had the knife about two blocks from the scene. They also found two others - an adult and a 17-year-old boy behind a nearby business.

The fourth suspect has not yet been arrested.

The three arrested were booked into jail on robbery-related charges.

Candlelight vigil Wednesday for slain 20-year-old woman

Posted By Joyce Chen on February 8, 2010 at 10:48 pm Bookmark and Share Share this

The friends and family members of Camille Love, a 20-year-old Tacoma woman who was shot and killed in her car Sunday night, will be holding a candlelight vigil Wednesday.

The vigil will take place 7 p.m. near the intersection of East 56th Street and Portland Avenue, where Love's car came to a stop after an unknown gunman in a stolen white minivan opened fire on her and her brother Josh.

Josh Love, 19, was wounded in the arm and transported to Tacoma General Hospital. His sister died at the scene.

The siblings had been driving north on Portland Avenue on the way to a friend's house when they noticed a white minivan following them about 10 p.m., Josh Love told police. The vehicles stopped side by side at East 64th Street and Portland Avenue. When the light turned green, the minivan driver fired at their car and fled down Portland Avenue.

Investigators only have vague descriptions of the shooter, who remained at large Monday.

Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and charges filed in the case. Tipsters can remain anonymous. Reach Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959.

Deputy involved in deadly shooting Saturday near Lake Tapps identified

Posted By Stacey Mulick on February 8, 2010 at 3:09 pm Bookmark and Share Share this

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department has released the name of the deputy who shot and killed a burglar near Lake Tapps early Saturday.

Deputy James Oleole, 32, has been with the Sheriff's Department for five years, agency spokesman Ed Troyer said. He remains on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure any time a deputy fires a gun.

The shooting occurred about 2:35 a.m. Saturday in the 1400 block of Tacoma Point Drive East. Deputies were called to the area after a woman heard someone break into her garage.

Deputies arrived and confronted two burglars. A third burglar was waiting in a car.

One burglar ran away. Ion Ungureanu, a 23-year-old Renton man, and another man fled in the car.

Oleole fired at the burglars' vehicle as they drove toward him. Ungureanu, who was driving, was killed. His passenger, who also was shot, was arrested after the car crashed. The passenger remains hospitalized, getting treatment for his injuries, Troyer said Monday. Autopsy results indicated that Ungureanu died from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office.

The third burglar remains on the loose.

Investigators believe the burglars targeted the home near Lake Tapps.

"It was not random," Troyer said.

Teen seriously wounded in drive-by Friday night on East Side

Posted By Stacey Mulick on February 8, 2010 at 2:59 pm Bookmark and Share Share this

A teenager was seriously injured Friday night in a drive-by shooting on Tacoma's East Side.

The 15-year-old boy's gunshot wounds were initially considered life threatening, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

The boy and three friends were walking near East 32nd Street and Portland Avenue about 9:45 p.m. Friday when a four-door vehicle pulled up next to them, Fulghum said.

Someone inside the vehicle fired five to six gunshots at the group. The teen was hit.

Puyallup Tribal police and Tacoma firefighters responded to the scene.

Tacoma police were looking into whether the shooting was gang motivated.

Man killed in one-car crash on SR 167

Posted By Stacey Mulick on February 8, 2010 at 2:30 pm Bookmark and Share Share this

A 66-year-old Auburn man was killed Monday morning when his vehicle left State Route 167 and crashed into a pillar, the Washington State Patrol reported.

The crash occurred just after 9:15 a.m. The man was going south on State Route 167. He went off the road just north of 15th Street Northwest and hit the pillar in the median.

Troopers were investigating the cause of the crash.

UPDATED: Bank robbed; suspect vehicle stopped in Lakewood

Posted By Stacey Mulick on February 8, 2010 at 11:59 am Bookmark and Share Share this

Pierce County sheriff's detectives were investigating a bank robbery this morning on Canyon Road.

Lakewood police officers have stopped the robber's suspected getaway car in the 10200 block of 47th Avenue Southwest, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

The Puyallup Valley Bank, 10410 Canyon Road E., was robbed about 9:30 a.m. A man armed with a gun robbed the branch, then ran from the bank.

He was described as white, 6 feet to 6 feet 1, with a medium build. He work a black hooded sweatshirt and stocking cap, Troyer said.

A police dog did a track but had no luck.

Investigators developed information about a possible getaway vehicle and partial license plate. The vehicle was spotted in Lakewood and officers conducted a felony stop.

UPDATE: A suspect has been detained, Troyer said.

Investigators looking for cause of car fire at Tacoma gas station

Posted By Stacey Mulick on February 8, 2010 at 8:09 am Bookmark and Share Share this

Tacoma firefighters were working to determine why a sedan caught fire Sunday morning at a South End gas station.

Crews were alerted to the fire at 8247 Pacific Ave. at 7:15 a.m. When they arrived, they saw the sedan was fully-involved in flames, the Fire Department reported. The flames had spread to the gas station's overhead roof.

Firefighters used a compressed air-foam system to battle the blaze because foam helps put out petroleum-based fires, the department reported.

Crews were able to minimize the damage to the nearby pumps and the gas station's roof.

No one was injured. The blaze caused about $150,000 damage.

A witness provided video of the blaze to our news partners, KIRO TV. Find their story here.

UPDATED: One killed, one injured in shooting on East Side

Posted By Stacey Mulick on February 8, 2010 at 5:43 am Bookmark and Share Share this

Camille Love

A 20-year-old woman was killed and her younger brother injured when an occupant of another vehicle opened fire as the siblings sat in their vehicle on an East Side Tacoma street.

No arrests have been reported. The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office identified the woman as Camille A. Love, 20.

The surviving victim told officers there was no confrontation between the two cars before the shots were fired, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

Investigators were looking into the possibility that a traffic issue might have precipitated the shooting.

"There was nothing intentional on the victims' part," Fulghum said. "It wasn't like they were racing around, driving erratically."

The traffic issue "was the only thing that could have happen that may have set (the shooter) off," Fulghum said.

The shooting was reported about 10 p.m. Sunday. The brother told investigators he and his sister had just left a family gathering and were headed to a friend's house.

Camille Love and her brother, Josh Love.

Camille Love and her brother Josh.

They noticed a minivan following them. The two vehicles were side by side at a couple of lights, Fulghum said.

When the light turned green at East 64th Street and Portland Avenue, an occupant of a white minivan opened fire on the victims' red car, Fulghum said. The minivan was in the right lane; the red car in the left lane.

Several shots were fired. The minivan sped off down Portland Avenue.

The victims' vehicle kept going and came to a stop in its lane in the 5600 block of Portland Avenue. Love died at the scene.

Her brother, who was in the passenger seat, was shot in the arm. Paramedics took him to Tacoma General Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, Fulghum said.

Officers found the suspect's minivan abandoned a short time later. Someone in the area called police about a suspicious vehicle - the minivan - which had been left running in the middle of the street, Fulghum said. It was a mile or two from the shooting scene, Fulghum said.

Officers learned the minivan had been reported stolen out of King County. Officers impounded the minivan for processing.

No shooter was around, Fulghum said.

Fulghum said there were no initial indications that the shooting had any gang ties.

"It was just a brother and sister who were out," Fulghum said. "That's all they were doing."

The homicide is the second in the city so far this year.

Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and charges filed in the case. Reach Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959.

Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Two injured in crash on SR 303 in Silverdale

Posted By Joyce Chen on February 7, 2010 at 4:21 pm Bookmark and Share Share this

Two people are in the hospital after a two-car collision on State Route 303 in Silverdale.

The incident occurred around 11 a.m. just south of Ridgetop Boulevard. The first vehicle, a 1994 Chevrolet Suburban, was on northbound State Route 303 and crossed the median, striking a southbound 2001 Hyundai Accent head-on.

The Chevrolet driver, a 47-year-old Snohomish man, was taken to Tacoma General Hospital with facial and chest injuries. The other three passengers in the car were treated for minor injuries at Harrison Medical Center and released.

The Hyundai driver, a 22-year-old Bremerton woman was taken to Tacoma General Hospital with leg, chest and abdominal injuries. She also suffered a miscarriage from the crash.

Both cars were totaled in the wreck. The Washington State Patrol is investigating.